By Nicola Hunt – a volunteer for the Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside area
Spring is now well on its way and the local wildlife is getting ready for a busy breeding season. If you are walking on Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside Area (or otherwise known as Riddlesdown Open Space) you should hear the joyful song of the skylark in many of the fields. Look up and you may be able to see a speck hovering high in the sky. This is the male skylark proclaiming its territory and attracting a female. Sometimes you will see a skirmish as two males fly fast at low level chasing each other off their selected breeding territory.
The song of these special birds would have been a familiar sound to our grandparents or great grand parents but skylarks are now a rare sight or sound in London. Britain has lost 61% of these birds in the last 40 years much due to the loss of suitable breeding sites. We are so lucky to have them living and breeding on our local open space. They nest on the ground in grassy fields and are easily scared off the nest or away from their flightless young if people or dogs gets too close. This reduces their chances of successfully hatching their eggs and rearing their young. This is why it is important to keep to marked paths and keep dogs on short leads when walking in areas where they nest.
Please look out for the signs indicating the nesting areas and help the skylark to continue to be successful.”
On Riddlesdown Open Space the nesting grounds are generally (but not exclusively), the large fields of Skylark Field, Long Acres, Ibetts Piece, Dipsley Shaw and Field –
